Ax

Ax, also spelled Axe, hand tool used for chopping, splitting, chipping, and piercing. Stone Age hand axes originated in simple stone implements that acquired wooden hafts, or handles, about 30,000 bc. Copper-bladed axes appeared in Egypt about 4000 bc and were followed by axes with blades of bronze and eventually iron; blades were fastened to hafts by a variety of means—e.g., lashed into a wooden sleeve, bound into a split of wood, inserted in a bone socket. The development of the iron-bladed felling ax in the Middle Ages made possible the vast forest clearance of northwestern Europe and the development of medieval agriculture. The ax played a similar role in land clearance in eastern Europe, Scandinavia, North and South America, and elsewhere. In modern times the ax, now with a blade or bit of steel, sometimes double-bitted or sharpened on both ends, has lost much of its historic role to powered saws and other machinery, although it remains a widely used tool with a wide variety of uses.